MochiiOwl

On 12/28/2023 at 2:23 PM, Mike45LC said:

Here is my recommendation for self-guided tours in Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlan and Cabo San Lucas.  I am assuming we are talking about a relatively short one-day cruise ship visit.

PUERTO VALLARTA:

Known for:  Cobblestone streets, high sidewalks.   Sculptures along the Malecon

Grab a shuttle from the port.  These are mini-vans and cabs offering to drive you “downtown” for $5 per person.  The Malecon (I’ll loosely translate this as “The Boardwalk”) is too far for you to walk, especially compared to a $5 pp van ride.   Make sure the fare is $5 per person.  I recall seeing A-Frame signs by the shuttles.  A lot of posters here talk about walking out to get a city cab, to save a couple of dollars.  I am on a relatively expensive cruise holiday, and will not go out of my way to save a few bucks.

El Malecon Boardwalk:   The shuttle will drop you off near Rosita Hotel.  You can walk down El Malecon from there.  The water to your right is Banderas Bay.    Whenever you get tired, you can take a break at any of the many restaurants, or you can grab a cab back to the ship.  For the return taxi ride, there is no fixed fare – agree upon a price before you get in the cab!   I usually pay $10 to $15 for the return trip, depending on various issues, including how tired I am and how much time and effort I want to put into negotiating!   Remember, the difference between a $15 fare and a $20 fare is only $5 to you out of thousands of dollars on the cruise fare.  For the driver, it is much more significant.  So I will bargain the price down and then pay a lot more in the tip.

As you walk down the Malecon, you will see many sculptures  – the Seahorse, the dolphins, the ladder to the sky (“In Search of Reason”), sea creature chairs (“Rotunda of the Sea”).  There will also be sand sculptures on the Bay side.

Sometimes, the folkloric fliers are performing here on the beach side.

The Church of Our Lady of Guadalupe is off to the left (as you walk south).  You will see the government building and the Plaza De Las Armas on your left.  Cut through the Plaza and you will come to the Church.  It is a couple of blocks uphill from El Malecon.

Walk as far as you want.  The Malecon used to end at a river, in the middle of which is an island, Isle Cuale.  Nowadays, you can continue walking El Malecon even further.   This area is called Romantic Zone, and Las Muertos Beach.

Las Muertos Beach is at the south end of El Malecon, beyond Rio Cuale.  Plenty of beach-front restaurants, parasailing, banana boats, jet ski rentals, ....

By Las Muertos Beach, there is a street called Basilio Badillo, where you'll find a variety of shops with good quality Mexican items better priced than the stores on El Malecon.

During your walk, you will see some Oxxo stores.  Oxxo is the equivalent of 7-11.  Coke, chips, ....

PV has multiple alternatives – Vallarta Botanical Gardens, zip-lining, Playa las Gemelas, Destiladeras Beach, Playa Las Animas, ....   But the walk along El Malecon is the basic “I want to ‘do” Puerto Vallarta” experience.

MAZATLAN

The ship docks in the middle of a large commercial port.  You need to take a free shuttle bus (tips are gladly accepted!) from the ship to the Visitor’s Center, which is filled with small stores.  Once you get through that (and the stalls outside it), there are taxis and tour busses lined up waiting for you.  Mazatlan has golf-cart style cabs (“pulmonia”).  As always in Mexico, agree upon the price of the cab before you get in!!  There are lots of tourist helpers hanging aroud, sometimes called “Blue Shirts”; these are snowbirds helping us out as a free service.  Many of these snowbirds are Canadians, others are American.  They speak English and know Mazatlan.

My recommendation for a do-it-yourself tour:

Grab a golf cart to the Cathedral downtown.  Explore the Cathedral and then walk to El Mercado (Mercado Pino Suarez, to give it its full name).  Any of the locals will point you in the right direction.  It is only a block or two from the Cathedral.  Wander around El Mercado, get grossed out by the pig heads and other exotic merchandise.  

Then, grab a golf cart and go to the Golden Zone – ask to be let off at Seashell City or Shrimp Factory or Las Flores Beach Resort.  Wander around, go to the beach, shop, enjoy.

When you are done, grab another golf cart to take you back to the ship.  If you want, this driver will stop to let you watch the cliff divers.  

Alternative: There is a blue line painted down the sidewalk/in the middle of the roadway, from the Cruise Passenger Terminal to downtown.  You can easily walk to the downtown area by simply following the blue line.  The Tourist Advisors will help you find the Cathedral and Mercado. [Update: there are also signs on posts pointing you along the “Blue Line”.]

My personal way to enjoy Mazatlan includes a trip to Stone Island.   This does not need an organized excursion or tour guide.  

Stone Island has a nice beach, with lots of bars/restaurants.  The restaurants have chairs and tables and umbrellas.    The café you are spending money at will allow you to use a table/chairs/ umbrella as long as you make a reasonable minimum spend.  I’ve never known the minimum spend, because it has never been an issue.  The beach has many vendors (cheap jewelry, candies and other Mexican stuff.)  There are ATVs for rent; horses; banana boats; seadoos; etc.  
To get to Stone Island:  A short walk from the Passenger Terminal, there is a “ferry” that takes you across a small inlet to Stone Island.  From the entrance/exit of the Cruise Terminal (after the tram ride from the ship), turn left and walk down the street, about four blocks.  The street curves to the right just beyond the entrance to the Naval facility.  Continue straight onto a dirt road, about 50 yards, to a ticket booth (small yellow building).    Round trip ticket costs 30 pesos per person – they will charge you $2 per person if you pay in $US.   After you reach Stone Island, there is a path off to the left, to the beach and restaurants.   I usually spend a couple of hours on the beach at one of the restaurants

CABO SAN LUCAS:

This is a tender port.  Many ships spend only a few hours here, so don’t get adventurous!!   Others spend overnight here.  On some ships, the tenders run all night; on others, the tenders stop from around 9 or 10 p.m. and resumed tender service at 8 a.m. or so.  I have not stayed ashore all night.

The tenders bring you to the Marina, which is filled with restaurants, bars, shops.  Some people don’t even leave the marina area.  If you wander a little bit, you will find more restaurants and bars – Giggling Marlin, Cabo Wabo and similar places.

Cabo is very much a “party city” for California’s youth.

When you first get off the tender in Cabo, there will be a huge crowd of locals trying to sell tours.  They all offer the glass-bottom boat tour to the Arch.  It includes a  drive-by of Lovers' Beach, the stinking sea lion rock, the Arch, Divorce Beach -- these are all just drive-bys.  The captain will do a drop-off at Lovers' Beach upon request.   Warning:  there are no services at Lovers’ Beach.  You will climb off the boat and wade ashore.   I have heard of one local who sets up with a cooler to sell beverages, but I don’t know how often he is there.

After seeing the Arch, upon request, the Captain will also do a drop-off at Medano Beach.  You need to wade ashore; if a wave catches you wrong, you might take a dunking.  There are full services at Medano Beach -- food, drinks, bathrooms, chairs, umbrellas, water sports, parasailing, ATVs, jet skis, etc.  And vendors; lots of vendors.

If you want to parasail, I recommend doing one that launches from the boat instead of from the beach.  

If you get off at Medano Beach, you have already paid for the return to the Marina, but that requires you finding the same boat that you had taken.  I have never tried this -- I will walk, grab a land-based taxi or a pedi-cab instead.   I don’t want to try to find the same captain and then wade out in the surf and climb aboard the boat. 

If you stay in your tour boat, the boat returns you to the Marina, near the tender dock.

My last glass bottom tour, I think I paid $25 for two of us.  Pre-Covid, I would pay $8 to $10 per person, but I am more generous now!  When I am paying thousands for a cruise, I no longer want to negotiate over $10!  

This “tour” is no-frills, no soda, beer, drinks.  There are lots of other tours -- pirate ships, open bars, lunch buffets, etc. --  but the basic one is what I take every trip to Cabo.
 

Hi Mike, when you mention the "glass bottom" boats in Cabo, are these the ones with the little viewing port to the bottom and not the all clear boats?  Are there a lot of vendors for the all clear boats at the marina in cabo?  Trying to decide if I should book ahead or grab a tour when we get there.

Can we still use this shuttle service to the terminal if we are not staying at the hotel?

We are thinking of staying elsewhere and returning our rental car to the Enterprise that's connected to the Crown Plaza and then using their shuttle to get to the Princess cruise terminal.

I'm looking to book the Native Choice Chacchoben Extreme Tour that's the Chacchoben + Bacalar Lagoon combo for my cruise in January.  

I know we'll have an amazing time at the Mayan ruins.  My concern is with the Lagoon.  How have other people's experiences been with at Bacalar Lagoon?

The tour page lists a meal and use of kayaks and paddleboards. 

How was the included meal?

Some pages mention canoes.  Are there actually canoes?  When you get there, is there an option to add on a boat ride? 

When we get tired, are there covered loungers to relax in?

On 10/3/2023 at 11:33 AM, KatNiss Houston said:

I went in September to Chacchoben and Bacalar Lagoon. I really recommend this. We had a great tour of Chacchoben and our guide knew EVERYTHING. He was very passionate about the history. 

 

Native Choice was great. It did take us a while to find our way out of the port - the second map posted which shows cutting THRU the shops is definitely best. They waited on everyone to arrive and even sent us back to pick up a few stragglers when we were about a mile or so out. They did want to cram us into the vans, and 4 people in that back seat was squishy and hot. Fortunately enough people complained that they split us up. 

 

The road to Bacalar is very bumpy, but it was fun. Pack your sense of adventure. It wasn't terrible at all. 

 

Bacalar is beautiful and very clean. September was the off season, so our tour group was the only one there. About 15 of us had the place to ourselves. It was GREAT!  Bring water shoes and dry clothes to change. Bathrooms were clean. Food was good.

I'm thinking of booking this exact tour.  For the Bacalar Lagoon, was there a lot of good spots to sit and relax?  My husband doesn't want to get in the water and is looking forward to lounging when we get to the lagoon.

Hi, can anyone explain to me how the Price Tracking feature works?  I've been searching cruises using Cruise Critic and looking at the Price Tracker.  It always shows a really good price for Lowest Price but I can never find that offer anywhere.

Due to an error with my credit card, my Medallion order was cancelled.

I'm fine with picking them up at the port, however I'm a bit bummed it won't have the customization to commemorate this sailing.  It's a small thing, but I like the details.

I was just on the phone with Princess, and they told me that I could purchase and order the Customization for the Medallion face at the Port on the Day of Embarkation.  I've never heard of this and feel like it'd be a logistic nightmare.  I had the rep verify with her supervisor that this is possible.  Has anyone had experience with this? 

Hi Everyone,

My husband and I took our first cruise last year.  We were on the Island Princess Panama Canal Cruise out of Fort Lauderdale in December 2022.

During our stop in Grand Cayman, we booked a shore excursion through Princess called Stingray Sandbar & Cayman Highlights.  This took us to a rum factory, Hell, the turtle center, and finally Stingray Sandbar where we got to go into the water and swim with the stingrays.  During the stingray encounter portion of the excursion we had a wonderful time, and the people who took us out on the boat helped to take photos of us with the stingrays.

After we all got on the boat headed back to the beach, our tour guides came around asking whether we wanted to purchase our photos.  They wanted $50 to either email or airdrop the whole set to our phones.  We knew that purchasing the photos from the tour company would cost extra and we were happy to pay for them.  However, we didn't realize that they would only take cash and it had to be done on the boat.  There wasn't an office or shop on land that we could stop at to use a credit card. 

Being first time cruisers, we had brought cash on our excursion, but had spent the majority of it at our other stops.  We only had $40 left and so couldn't purchase our photos on the boat.  We were told by our guide that we could coordinate with the tour company via email to pay for our photos afterwards and have them sent to us.  

Since coming home, I have emailed and called the Caymanian Land & Sea Cooperative Society Ltd.  I've spoken with the manager there several times.  She has been trying to contact the boat that took us out to the sandbar to try to get in contact with the guide who took the photos.  But unfortunately, there has been no response from them and it's been months.

My question is has anyone had any experience or advice on what to do now?  We can't get the tour guides from the boat to send the tour company our photos to us.  I guess this is a learning opportunity for us, but if anyone has any advice, we'd appreciate it.

Thanks!

Thank you for posting this. I was contemplating whether I should book the excursion to Dunn’s River Falls from Falmouth with the ship or just get a taxi when we get there. It seems like my intuition was right about the possibility of getting price gauged for the taxi. Looks like we’ll be booking with the ship. 

Wondering about Native Alaskan food experiences.  So, I've seen quite a few TikToks (I know, I know...), regarding traditional Native Alaskan foods of dried fishes and seal oil/seal blubber.  Are there any ports in which this delicacy is available or sold?  It looks fascinating.

5 hours ago, XBGuy said:

We have taken two AK cruises that actually departed the last week of April.  I am going to vote with the others that endorsed May AK cruises.

 

As has already been noted, because of school schedules, there are far fewer families traveling.  If you are on an early May cruise  you might see fewer cruise ships in some of the ports,  We have had several port stops in which we were the only ship docked that day.  We have also been the first cruise ship of the year a couple times.

 

On what some might describe as the "minus side:"

 

• You might beat some migrating whales up to Alaska.  That being said. we have never taken an Alaska cruise (We're up to six.) in which we did not see whales from our balcony.  Clearly, though, the later in the spring that you go, the more whales you are likely to see;
• Some businesses in the ports may not be open in the very first weeks of May--most notably in Skagway which is very economically dependent on the cruise industry..  So, a few shops or restaurants may not be open, yet.  This is not a problem in larger towns such as Juneau or Ketchikan which both have large year-round populations.
• The weather might be cooler, but we have never experienced freezing cold.  Yes, take a warm jacket, and, yes, take a hat.  Also, plan on seeing some rain.  Rain happens in Alaska no matter what month.  I cannot say that we have seen more or less in the spring.  If, you have a small umbrella that you can pack, that might be handy for walking around the ports, but, again, that is my recommendation for any AK cruise.  I can report that the biggest storm we ever experienced on an Alaska cruise--heck, on any cruise--was in the Gulf of Alaska in August.

 

Bon Voyage.  I am envious.

 

Thank you so much!  I really appreciate the in-depth review.  We would be going the last week in May, so it sounds like we're gonna be in a sweet spot in terms of lower crowds while also not missing whales and experiences.

4 minutes ago, CruiserBruce said:

May is a bit of a secret, so prices are lower. But kids aren't out of school, so families aren't going to cruise just yet. If you look over on the Alaska board, you will see many who swear by May being about the best time to go.

Well, that's just perfect for us!  🤩

3 hours ago, CruiserBruce said:

No, many cruise lines start their Alaska season in early May. Or their season in Europe.

 

If not starting their seasons in  Alaska or Europe, the cruise lines are frequently moving their ships to those locations from wherever they spent their Northern Hemisphere winters. So repositioning ("repo" for short) cruises from Asia or the Australia area to Alaska. From the Florida ports to Alaska (most importantly through the Panama Canal) or to Europe. These can be very popular cruises.

Okay thank you.  I saw that there were some deals for Alaskan cruises in the month of May compared to June or July.  And was worried that part of the reason it was priced so cheaply was because it was too early in the season for favorable weather.

What are people's favorite destinations for cruising in May?

My husband and I both celebrate birthdays in May, and I thought it'd be a fun way to celebrate our upcoming birthdays on a cruise.  I'd like some suggestions for people's favorite cruises for that time of year.

Is May too early for Alaskan cruises?  Is the weather still too cold or waters too turbulent?  

22 hours ago, BillB48 said:

^^This is exactly the process.  The ship will enter the Canal at the Breakwater and from there it is about 5 miles to the Agua Clara Locks.  This part of the transit can take about an hour or so.  Once the ship arrives at the Locks, the passage through the locks will take about 2 hours.

 

After clearing the Locks, it is only a very short sail to where the tendering will begin.  It really is a very short distance, perhaps only a half of a mile or so.  The ship will wait in this area until it locks down and proceeds to Colon

 

While the time the ship waits in the Lake for the down lockage is very flexible and is all dependent on other Canal traffic, I have not seen passengers return to the ship while it is still in the Lake. 

 

Cruise lines pay an extra fee for the transit to occur during daylight.  A daylight transit for Canal purposes is arriving at the first lock and clearing the last lock in daylight.  The Canal folks are real clock watchers in this respect!  Daylight begins at dawn and ends at sunset.  In Panama that time is real easy to figure out, since daylight is very close to 12 hours long year round and is always close to 6:AM and PM.  I point this out mainly  because it is possible for the ship to enter the Canal at the Breakwater while it is still dark, however the passage through the Locks would be in daylight.  Precise execution of schedules at the Canal are more of a wish list😃.

Hi Bill, thank you for your in-depth and very informative explanation of the entire process.  I was wondering, is there a more preferable side of the ship when it is traveling through the locks?  We will be doing the partial transit on the historic locks in December.

6 minutes ago, NownZen said:

The app functions do not require the internet acess purchase.

Excellent!

6 hours ago, Thrak said:

 

I did all of the setup and information entering on my phone for both of us. However, I also installed the app on my wife's phone so she has the ability to check her folio, order food or drinks, etc.

One more question, do you need to purchase the WiFi in order to use the app features? I am leaning away from WiFi simply to stay away from the temptation of browsing emails while on vacation. 

4 hours ago, Capt_BJ said:

skip the ship excursion and take a taxi

 

you pay a DAY fee to get in ...  stay as long as you'd like ..... climb first time with a guide then set off on your own <an excursion will have you climb one time on a well known path then reboard the bus ....>

 

when I go we climb up / down / and sideways ......

 

 

 

 

 

don't plan to climb? there are places where you can use steps to get in the water ......

 

 

see the folks holding hands? EXCURSION!!!!!!

I saw that the entrance fee per person is $25.
 

But mostly worried about how much a taxi is both ways and about safety. How much is reasonable? 
 

Neither of us are able to climb the falls, but we will be using the walkways and dipping our toes in the water as well as enjoying seeing it from down on the beach. Like in your last photo. 

14 hours ago, Capt_BJ said:

https://www.destination.ky/directory/government-directory/postal-services-hell-post-office/

 

The postal service conducts the full range of local and international posting services.  Open Monday – Friday, 8.30 a.m. – 5 p.m., Saturday, 9 a.m. – 12.30 p.m.

 

 

to mail something from Cayman you must use Cayman postage (just as you must use US stamps in the US ...)

 

Note the price above is CAYMAN DOLLAR .... a US dollar is exchanged on the street and in stores for 80 cents typically so a post card is gonna run about a US buck

Thank you so much for explaining!

I've read from other people's experience at Dunn's River Falls lately that they felt rushed while climbing the falls.  The excursion I'm looking to book shows 90 minutes Time on Site.  Is this a reasonable amount of time to adequately enjoy the park?  We're not going to be climbing the falls, but we want to enjoy the falls from the walkway along the side, take pictures, and enjoy the beach at the bottom as well.

So apparently the thing to do in Hell is mail postcards to friends and loved ones from Hell.

My question is, do they sell stamps at the post office there?  Are they reasonably priced?  If we bring our own stamps from home, do they work in other country?  We'd probably be mailing about 10 postcards.

1 minute ago, julie3fan said:

 

I did all the precruise checkin for both DH and I on my phone.  He did absolutely nothing on his phone.

Thank you! Very helpful and puts me at ease.

Can someone explain, does my husband and I both need to download the Medallion App, create separate accounts, and fill out the questions separately? Or can we just do it all from my phone only?